Family members of Melissa Hoskins delivered victim impact statements in an emotional court hearing, calling her death a "tragic accident" in the District Court in Adelaide on♕ Monday.
Hoskins' mother, father and sister faced accused Rohan﷽ Dennis, who entered a guilty plea to an aggravated charge of creating a likelihood of harm in the case surrounding Hoskins' death in late December 2023.
reported Amanda Hoskins, Melissa Hoskins' mother, speaking directly to Dennis as he sat in the dock in the courtroom.
"Melissa was the best thing that ever happened to you. Rohan, you loved Melissa, and I know that you꧋ would never intentionally hurt her. Your temper is your downfall and needs to be addressed."
M📖elissa Hoskins' father, Peter Hoskins, said the family is devastated, the reported. He recalled a final video ꩲcall with his daughter: "She could hardly contain her joy at the prospect of hosting her first New Year's Eve party.
"The next time I saw Melissa was in the mortuary viewing room at the Royal Adelaide Hosꦺpital … that, I will never forget. It will haunt me forever."
Dennis was formaꦉlly charged March of 2024 for his involvement in the death of Hoskins, his wife and former Olympian and World Champion, after a car incident that occurred near their family home in Adelaide.
He was allegedly driving the car which struck Hosꦡkins on December 30, 2023. She was taken to the hospital and died the next day.
The original charges also 🅺included causing death by dangerous driving and an aggravated offence of driving without due care. Both these charges were later dropped. In December 2024, Dennis pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of committing an aggravated act likely to cause ha🦋rm.
Prosecutor Tali Costi told the court on Monday that while Dennis was not 🍌criminally responsible for Hoskins' dea🅷th, he either did not know or was "reckless to the fact she was holding onto the vehicle" as CCTV footage emerged showing the seconds leading up to the incident.
Presജiding Judge Ian Press will senten𒁏ce Dennis on May 14, 2025; however, his lawyer, Jane Abbey KC, has asked that Judge Press impose a suspended sentence.
Abbey told the court the pair had been engaged in a "domestic dispute" over k🎐itchen cabinets earlier on December 30, but that "Certainly, in Mr Dennis🔯' mind, he did not know that she was still near the car."
The maximum penalty for an aggravated charge of creating a likelihood of harm is seven years imprisonment plus a five-year loss of drive🐽r's licence.
